Fallout 5 Faction/Enemy Concept: The Irradiated Runners

Origins

The Irradiated Runners emerged from a pre-war cloning facility powered directly by nuclear energy. The project’s original goal was to create expendable human test subjects resistant to radiation, but as the nuclear core destabilized, the clones began mutating unpredictably. Their unstable DNA, warped by nuclear power, turned them into feral, hyper-aggressive beings.

Containment eventually failed. The clones escaped into the Wasteland, forming roving packs that sprint toward any figure they perceive as a threat. Their presence reshaped local life: settlements now build alarms, militias, and bunkers specifically to withstand Runner attacks.

Appearance & Behavior

Pack Hunters – Runners rarely travel alone. They descend on prey in frenzied groups, sprinting at terrifying speed.
Chasing Instinct – They chase not only players but also other Wasteland enemies. Raiders, mutants, and wildlife can suddenly find themselves ambushed, creating chaotic multi-faction encounters.
Radiation Signatures – Each clone radiates energy differently. Some glow faintly, while others carry unstable cores that trigger Geiger counters from a distance.

Tiers of Mutation

Low-Level Glow – Emaciated humanoids, hairless, eyes faintly lit. Erratic but numerous.
Mid-Level Radiant – Visible glowing veins, cracked skin, emits constant radiation aura.
High-Level Core Runners – Tumor-ridden hulks with glowing skeletons. Create radiation zones in combat.
Critical Failures – Rare monstrosities. Upon death, they collapse into a nuclear meltdown, leaving behind small but permanent fallout craters.

Settlement Responses

Radiation Alarms – Settlements mount sirens paired with salvaged Geiger counters. The moment radiation spikes, alarms scream across the town.
Protective Corridors – Entryways equipped with jury-rigged “decontamination tunnels” where survivors wash away fallout dust.
Militia Hunts – Entire militias form with the sole purpose of chasing down Runner packs before they get too close.

The Scientists’ Last Stand

Amid this chaos, a small group of surviving scientists and engineers remain. They wear bulky, prototype radiation-resistant suits lined with lead mesh and powered by salvaged micro-fusion cores.

Mission – Unlike raiders or militarized factions, these scientists seek to cure and save the infected rather than destroy them.
Tools & Gadgets – They wield experimental devices:
- Rad-Dispersers that temporarily weaken Runner radiation fields.
- Clone Stabilizers designed to calm mutated DNA for a short window.
- Ground Purifiers that attempt to cleanse irradiated soil.
Moral Conflict – Settlers distrust them, fearing their experiments will unleash even worse horrors. Yet their technology may hold the only chance to reverse nuclear corruption in infected wastelanders.

Gameplay Integration

Dynamic Encounters – Players may stumble upon Runners chasing raiders or mutants, creating unpredictable three-way fights.
Faction Choice – Side with settlers who want to exterminate the Runners, or support the scientists’ mission to rehabilitate them.
Unique Quests –
- Cure or Kill: Retrieve stabilizing tech from the cloning facility ruins.
- Escort Mission: Guard scientists attempting to save “Ground Zero Infected.”
- Sabotage Opportunity: A darker faction may pay you to dismantle the scientists’ work and weaponize their tech.
Dungeon Zone – The irradiated cloning facility remains a massive end-game location, filled with containment pods, failed experiments, and prototype technology.

Atmosphere

Sprinting Shadows – At night, glowing eyes and silhouettes dart through the wasteland mist.
Sirens in the Distance – Radiation alarms echo in the night sky, warning players of impending raids.
Moral Dread – The player’s Geiger counter ticks louder as choices weigh heavier: is it mercy to destroy the Runners, or humanity’s last hope to try and cure them?

👉 This setup makes the Irradiated Runners both a terrifying feral enemy and a narrative ecosystem, tied to science, morality, and the everyday survival of settlements.

Perfect. Let’s flesh out the scientist faction connected to the Irradiated Runners so they feel like a fully realized group, similar in weight to Fallout’s classic “Followers of the Apocalypse.”

Fallout 5 Minor Faction: The Rad Wardens

Origins

The Rad Wardens trace their lineage back to the scientists and engineers who once staffed the cloning facility that birthed the Irradiated Runners. When containment broke and most staff fled or perished, a small number stayed behind, driven by guilt and duty. Over generations, their descendants — some true bloodline, others adopted wastelanders trained into the cause — became the Rad Wardens: a nomadic, heavily protected faction dedicated to containing, studying, and ultimately saving the irradiated.

Philosophy

The Rad Wardens believe that radiation is not just a curse, but also a potential key to the future of humanity. They see the Irradiated Runners as victims, not monsters — broken creations who should be healed rather than exterminated.

Doctrine of Containment – Never let radiation spread uncontrolled, but never abandon those already touched by it.
Doctrine of Restoration – Every infected life saved is a redemption for humanity’s sins of nuclear war.
Doctrine of Balance – Where settlements see only extermination, the Wardens see a path of harmony between the Wasteland and its irradiated children.

Structure & Ranks

High Warden – The leader and moral compass of the faction. Usually a seasoned scientist in a heavily modified rad-suit with advanced life-support.
Keepers – Senior scientists and engineers who oversee local containment and treatment operations. They maintain the Warden Archives (records of every infected saved or lost).
Watchers – Scouts and field operatives. Their suits are lighter and faster, fitted with sirens, rad-detectors, and drone relays. They patrol the Wasteland to locate Runner packs before they reach settlements.
Wardens-in-Training – Settler recruits who believe in the cause. They handle logistics, repairs, and occasionally aid in medical procedures.
The Shielded – Rare volunteers who undergo experimental treatments to survive high-radiation zones without protective suits. They are living test subjects — admired by some, pitied by others.

Technology & Gear

Warden Suits – Bulky but elegant rad-resistant suits, cobbled together from pre-war hazmat gear, Brotherhood scraps, and custom lead mesh plating.
Cure-Tech Tools –
- Rad-Disperser Emitters (weaken Runner auras in combat).
- Clone Stabilizers (chance to pacify a Runner temporarily, allowing capture).
- Bio-Torches (safely burn irradiated growths from soil).
Symbol – A glowing Geiger-counter dial encircled by a protective shield, painted onto their suits and banners.

Settlement Hub

The Wardens operate from Sanctum-7, a fortified outpost built into the partially collapsed remains of the cloning facility itself.

Inner Sanctum – A sealed dome containing the last stable cloning tanks, repurposed into medical stasis pods for infected patients.
Warden Forge – A lab where gadgets are repaired and new rad-resistant technologies are invented.
Purifier Trenches – Trenches dug around the facility with rad-absorbing waste traps and crude air filters to limit fallout leaks.
Training Hall – Where wasteland recruits learn both combat and medicine under Watchers.

Relationships with Other Factions

Settlers – Distrustful. Many settlers believe the Wardens are keeping the Runners alive and risk unleashing more horrors.
Brotherhood of Steel – Conflicted. Some chapters see the Wardens as reckless scientists meddling with abominations; others respect their tech.
Raiders – Hate them. Warden suits and gadgets are valuable loot. Wardens often become raider targets.
Player – Can ally or betray. The player may:
- Help the Wardens develop a cure.
- Aid settlers who want the Runners destroyed.
- Sabotage them for factions seeking to weaponize radiation.

Quest Hooks

“Echoes of Containment” – Investigate lost Warden archives hidden in a radiation hotspot.
“Chasing the Cure” – Escort a Warden team trying to pacify and capture a Runner pack.
“The Shielded” – A recruit undergoing experimental treatment is going feral; decide whether to end their life or let the Wardens continue their risky experiments.
“Sanctum Under Siege” – Raiders or rival factions launch an assault on Sanctum-7 to steal Warden suits and cure-tech.

Atmosphere

Encountering Them – From afar, they look like glowing hazmat knights, their suits humming with rad-powered respirators. Their Geiger counters crackle constantly.
Moral Tone – They embody the Fallout gray zone: are they saviors preserving humanity, or reckless scientists repeating the sins of the old world?
Narrative Weight – The player’s choices with the Wardens determine whether the Irradiated Runners remain a curse… or become the foundation of a new breed of post-nuclear humanity.

Signature Warden Weapons

1. Rad-Lance

Type: Energy spear
Design: A long pole with a salvaged micro-fusion core at the base, channeling a focused stream of radiation into its tip. The head glows faintly green with a controlled plasma field.
Function:
- Primary: Piercing melee weapon with armor-penetrating damage.
- Secondary (Alt-Fire): Emits a short radiation burst that weakens irradiated enemies (including Runners) but does minor DoT to the player if used too close.
Lore: Inspired by containment rods used in the facility’s reactor. Wardens reforged them into both weapon and symbol of their cause.

2. Geiger Spiker

Type: Pneumatic crossbow / launcher
Design: A heavily modified Geiger counter retrofitted with a compressed-air system to fire rad-dampening “spikes.” Each spike carries an anti-rad serum capsule.
Function:
- Against Enemies: Spikes deliver high-impact stagger damage. Critical shots briefly suppress radiation fields.
- Against Allies/Settlers: Can fire stabilizer spikes that reduce rads (acts as a long-range RadAway injection).
Lore: Used as both a weapon and medical delivery system, depending on who’s in the sights.

3. Irradicator

Type: Hybrid flamethrower / purifier
Design: A jury-rigged industrial flamethrower with interchangeable tanks. One holds flammable fuel; the other holds a vaporized anti-rad mist.
Function:
- Fire Mode: Spews white-blue flames that burn irradiated growths and enemies.
- Mist Mode: Emits a cleansing vapor that clears small fallout zones and reduces rads on allies.
Lore: Built from old “bio-torches” once used to sterilize cloning labs.

4. Pulse Stabilizer

Type: Shock baton / containment tool
Design: A staff-like weapon fitted with coils and a salvaged cryo-cell battery, humming with static electricity.
Function:
- Primary: Delivers high-voltage strikes that stagger and briefly pacify feral mutants (including Runners).
- Secondary: Emits a cone-shaped shock pulse that disrupts electronic enemies (like robots) as a side-effect.
Lore: Originally a lab device used to calm clones mid-seizure. Now, it’s a battlefield weapon.

5. Warden’s Mercy (Unique Legendary Weapon)

Type: Prototype rifle
Design: Looks like a cross between a laser rifle and a medical injector. It’s bulky, glowing faintly with rad-suppressant canisters slotted into the side.
Function:
- Against Enemies: Fires concentrated rad-bolts that pierce armor and deal bonus damage to irradiated targets.
- Against NPCs/Settlers: Alt-fire injects a healing serum (restores HP, lowers rads).
Unique Perk: “Mercy” — Killing blows against humanoids have a chance to stabilize them instead, knocking them unconscious rather than killing them.
Lore: Built by the first High Warden as a symbol that their tools must always hold both death and salvation.

How These Fit in Gameplay

They reinforce the dual nature of the Rad Wardens: containment vs. compassion, weapon vs. cure.
They add variety to Fallout’s arsenal, introducing multi-use hybrid tools (combat + healing + environment interaction).
They deepen player choices: use Warden weapons to purify and heal, or mod them into purely destructive forms.

Fallout Ideas For a New Game or Mods(PS4/5 and XBOX)